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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Hughes Walks The Ballpark: Teams Walk Away?

In April I decided, for various reasons, that this year should be Joba Chamberlain's last in pinstripes. Chamberlain's performance in Oakland last night only reinforced this belief.

Until now, I have not addressed the obvious fact that Phil Hughes should tag along when Chamberlain leaves the Yankees. After last night, however, it is obvious that the two should hop a plane together and, when the season ends, get as far away from the Yankees as possible.

Unfortunately, however, Hughes did nothing last night to make his post-Yankee destination clear. Issuing five walks will not help his cause one bit. Add this to his overall inconsistency and it will be very hard for Hughes to make a solid landing once he takes off on his free agent quest.

On his radio show a few weeks ago, play-by-play announcer Michael Kay suggested that, should Hughes go on a winning streak, the Yankees should trade him. Kay was assuming the Yankees will not be signing Hughes before or after he enters free agency, so they might as well get something for him. I like the idea but, I'm not so sure Phil Hughes is capable of a winning streak. Inconsistency has been the name of his game since his 18-9 season back in 2010, and even then he had a 4.19 ERA. No, unless they can find a team that is truly desperate for pitching, the Yankees are stuck with Hughes for the remainder of the season and will get nothing for their troubles when he leaves.